Chronos
by Shouvin
Summary: In a place called 'Doom Mountain', any living creature that passes its boundaries is never heard from again. When the Furious Five are called for help near the mountain, they find someone from the mountain had done the work for them…or did he? Tigress\OC
1. Prologue

This is the beginning of what I hope to be a long and enjoyable story.

Disclaimer:

Chronos (pronounced as Kronus) © SEGA (Golden- axe 3)

Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks

**Claimer: **The story, storyline, and anything that has something to do with chronos (except the looks and the name)

© me

prologue

The first picture he remembers was his parents being slashed in front of his own eyes.

That was the very thing that motivated him to train; the will to avoid death. To be immortal. While a regular kung- fu student would train on soft dummies, he punched trees, rocks, and even shields and armors; he could sometimes find some in a nearby deserted fortress. The will to defeat the death was powerful.

But somehow, all he felt was nothing but dry pain. No blood was spilled, and no bones were broken. Only dark marks appeared on his skin, nonetheless they were invisible, because of his dark color.

The second picture he remembered was a memory of separation. From his tiny basket he remembered seeing another tiger. There were a few minor differences between the two but there was one big difference he remembered the most- the color; White with black dots. Even if he tried as hard as he could, he could never find another leopard that had the same color. He remembered the white leopard cub was taken out of his eyesight. Chronos himself, a tiny black tiger cub, was taken to a desolated mountain which was just a blur to his young eyes. In days to come he grew to see the mountain as his home.

That's where a giant turtle found him, and adopted him as his son. The wise turtle could see the fear and trauma in the little cub's eyes, and to help him overcome it, he taught him kung fu. Because of the tragedy, he decided to raise Chronos separately from the rest of the world until he is ready. This way, he shall feel safe and secured.

So the turtle taught him how to fight, and the mountain taught him survival. When little Chronos was ten years old, he could run fleetly on the mountain's rocky surface and lightly skip between the giant rocks. When he was fifteen he reached the point when he could feel no pain. If a professional woodchopper would chop down a tree within minutes- Chronos could do it in seconds, with a single strike, without feeling any pain.

For long years the black tiger was confident of his strength and skills. Until **_it_** happened.

It has been a few weeks that his 'father' didn't show up, and Chronos began to feel lonely. Then, a vision came, and shook him to his roots.

In the vision he was able to see a blur of black and white. The blurred figure held Chronos's hand in a weird position with its pinky up. After a few seconds, the figure flexed its pinky. A great flash, and death. He never experienced death on his own body, obviously, but there was no doubt. The void of darkness and emptiness was definitely how death felt. The same thing that his parents went through in front of his very eyes as a cub, now he felt it himself. It drove him mad. He had to do something, anything, he had to shake it off.

Chronos would let out his fear and despair into anything that crossed his sight. Trees were brought down, rocks were crushed and shattered into pieces, and every little animal ran away as far as it could. No-one could make it through the mountain alive.

Because Chronos was not able to feel any pain for long years now, there was no escape from this horrible feeling, the feeling of death. Since the vision, the poor tiger could never find peace.

Because of Chronos, no one could enter the mountain and live. Anyone who entered its boundaries was doomed by fate: he could not escape a duel with Chronos, followed by inevitable death.

A short while afterwards, the mountain was pronounced with its new name:Doom Mountain.

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><p>Review!<p>

If there will be enough reviews I will upload more. There is already a few episodes written.

No bad comments please!

Chronos X tigress


	2. Chapter one: the fight and the city

**All right, there is the first chapter. A bit short, I know. Let's get to business by saying:**

**Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks T_T**

**Chronos's name and conceptual looks © SEGA :'(**

**Everything else that has anything to do with Chronos and the storyline © me! :-D**

**sorry if there's any grammar mistakes or misspellings, my main language is not English. please tell me if there are mistakes!**

**enjoy!**

Chapter one- The fight and the city

It was just another bright morning in the jade palace. The furious five and the dragon warrior woke up for another training day. The dragon warrior, as usual, was up early before everyone, munching on monkey's cookies. For a change, with Monkey's permission (a Cookie for a noodle bowl). Master Shifu as always was in he's cave mumbling "inner peace, inner peace."

Monkey and Mantis made another bet, crane was taking a morning flight around the palace and Viper practiced her ribbon dance.

Even Tigress felt more relived than usual.

Everything was going as usual when a messenger came with an urgent message for the five and the dragon warrior (who hasn't finished stuffing himself yet).

Master Shifu was the first one to see him. When he read the message his face remained calm, despite the goose's terrified face; a battalion of rhinos approached China's capital city in conquering proposes. There was no time to waste. The furious five and the dragon warrior ("no snack stop?") set out armed only with the very weapon they have been developing for years: kung fu.

**...**

Chronos went trough another restless night.

The black tiger was glad to see that the sun has finally risen, and he got up to stretch his body.

As usual he ran around the mountain searching for food. When he finished his meal he quickly climbed to the top of the mountain to have a look around, and saw this: a great battalion of rhino soldiers approaching the capital city, which was near Doom Mountain.

He showed no interest but it was shaken out of him quickly; the soldiers broke into the city and mercilessly killed and slashed guards and citizens, innocent citizens. _This_ was a sight he could not take. It reminded him of the picture of his parents being slashed to death in front of his eyes as a helpless cub, which brought up the vision again- the frightening vision of death.

He roared a horrible and painful roar, and bounced to the surface in one jump, creating huge cracks in the earth like a cannonball in a stone wall, and charged to the city, aiming for the battalion.

The furious five and the dragon warrior were on their way to the city, but as they approached the city, they suddenly stopped; Chronos was already there.

Armors were cracked on their wielders, shields were shattered, weapons were broken, and rhinos were thrown everywhere, so fast that the six animals were stunned.

They were about to turn on their heels towards the jade palace, as a result of them seeing the mysterious black tiger defeating the entire battalion by himself, without a scratch, apparently taking care of the problem for them.

But something stopped them; the black tiger roared over the unconscious battalion soldiers.

It was Tigress who first noticed the black tiger's weird behavior, and grabbed Po's arm to catch his attention, and everyone turned to watch again. The mysterious black tiger snatched the nearest soldier and he pulled out his claws in the other arm. He lifted he's hand-

Monkey, Crane, Viper and Mantis were the first to act. They charged the tiger with a series of quick jabs. Chronos was amazed by his skilled opponents, but after a short battle the four found themselves in small distance between him and them, lying on the ground unconscious. He suddenly roared in pain and landed on all four. They managed to hurt him in his left ankle and in the back of his right thigh. The main parts he used for standing in his rear legs. Tough he was still able to stand on four legs, mostly using his front paws.

The next one to strike was Tigress. The wounded tiger charged her with his fist first and she quickly put up her paw to block him. A big mistake; She was thrown 20 feet backwards unconscious as well. She was the most pain proof rival the tiger ever fought against. He was able to defeat her easily, but he broke his right arm. For some reason when he saw the female tiger being thrown backwards it reminded him a battle on a distant bridge; a memory that wasn't even his.

The dragon warrior showed no response to anything that happened in front of him, but inside he was shocked: Tigress, the most powerful warrior he knew, was defeated with a single punch! The panda contained his shock and gathered his senses. He jumped and landed in front of the tiger, seeing as the furious five was defeated with great humiliation.

Chronos's face turned white (and considering his color it was quite a challenge); black and white figures blinded him for a moment. When he's sight returned, comprehension came along with it; the murderer from the vision- was the panda.

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><p><strong>Ta-ta-ta-dammm!<strong>

**Cliff hanger!**

**Lol, sry.**

**As usual, review!**

**Thanks for the positivity!**


	3. Chapter two: a decision

**okay... second chapter!**

**this is supposed to 'take you of the cliffhanger' (sorry FFcrazy15)**

**but the actual answers will come later...muahahaha.. EHEM! *clearing throat***

**English is not my main language, feel free to correct me if i spelled wrong (just did lol) , used a different word that sounds the same, grammar mistakes****ect...**

**Thanks for being so supportive and positive! you guys are awesome! PURELY awesome!**

***sigh*...here we go... DISCLAIMER:**

**Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks**

**Chronos's name and conceptual looks © sega **

**CLAIMER [yay!]:**

**Everything else that has anything to do with Chronos and the storyline © me!**

**BIG THANKS TO MY AWESOME SIS FOR BETA AND HUGE NECESSARY CHANGES! (i'm writing this with my free will *gun click*)**

**AS USUAL, R&R**

**ENJOY!**

Chapter two- The Discussion

Chronos shook was terrified 'it's him, it's **him**!' he thought, but he was unable to do anything, he was completely terrified.

Every step the panda took towards him, Chronos painfully took a step back. It went on, step by step, until he found himself with his back to a wall.

He could see his entire life passing in front of his eyes, all of his training to defeat the death, for nothing. Po's face had no expression, "you're mine, kitty." He said, narrowing his eyes.

Chronos couldn't take it anymore. He leaped towards the panda, pushed himself with the help of the wall, and stroke Po's stomach using his still unharmed paw.

The punch didn't seem to hurt the panda, although he made a few steps back to regain his balance.

A few steps that was just enough for Chronos to make his runaway. He leaped above the panda. One painful landing behind Po's back, and he was no longer there.

**…**

Chronos ran as fast as he could, extracting the remaining of his strength to endure the pain. It was hard enough without his rear legs, but one of his front paws was more than wounded. It was almost impossible, but he didn't care. Death was there! He had to keep running! 'I'm going to have serious nightmares after this. At least the pain will shake of the visions.' The black tiger thought to himself. After a long painful and exhausting road he managed to climb up to the cavern in Doom Mountain where he used to sleep.

He collapsed in the corner, bundled himself up, and fell asleep despite his unbearable pain.

**…**

"That was the most powerful creature I ever seen!" said Po, unloading all of the shock he kept inside during the battle, "he defeated everyone without a scratch!"

"No he didn't!" Monkey objected "I managed to hurt his thigh!"

"Yeah," Crane interrupted, "and I managed to wound his ankle. And I gotta say, the guy is made of **steel**! He's Just like…"

"-Like me?" Tigress completed his sentence.

"yeah." Crane agreed.

They were all back in the jade palace, sitting in the training hall. Trying to figure out what just happened.

"But something really weird happened when I stood against him," Po continued "he.. I don't know, but when he saw me, his eyes were suddenly widened, his ears were bent and he flinched away few steps back." He withdrew theatricality, bending he's ears with his arms, demonstrating how it looked like.

"Like a different person," said Shifu, deep in thoughts.

"Master Shifu! When did you come in?" Po was alarmed (As always).

Master Shifu raised an eyebrow "I was here the entire time, you need to be more alert," He said with his typical piece voice.

"So you're saying he didn't fight us?" Po asked in typical silliness.

"What? No! I mean he was motivated by something else. How did he escaped?" Shifu replied.

"Yeah…" Po cleared his throat, "like I said, every step I did, he went backwards. But when I almost had him, his eyes were narrowed again, he growled and then he hit my stomach." He said rubbing his belly. "He shook me out of balance, so he managed to escape."

Shifu paled. "Master?" said Tigress worried about the looks of her master.

"He doesn't control himself." He said after a while.

Po was buried in thoughts "when I come to think of it..." He mumbled contemplatively, "He managed to escape because he punched me with he's good arm."

...

Everyone turned their faces to look at Po.

"His **good** arm?" Tigress claimed.

Po mumbled again, embarrassed, "...when he defeated you he roared and held his arm…."

"So you're saying, he is lying down right now, wherever he is, and can barely walk?" Tigress said in shock. She knew better than everyone how a tiger walks on four, she could barely understand how he managed to escape, and frankly, even walk.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Breaking the silence, Shifu said hastily, "You're right. Crane! Go get him."

"What? But.. I..." Crane started to say.

"-I'll do it." Tigress interrupted.

Everyone now looked at Tigress. She felt uncomfortable to be in the same embarrassing situation that Po was usually in.

So she started explaining. "First, he's not going to cooperate, and I was the closest to defeat him."

"But he wouldn't dare touching me!" Po interrupted.

"Truth, but he will do everything to get away from you. After all, he got away from you although he could barely walk. Besides, what you're gonna do, scare him off here?"

Everyone laughed except for Po, even Shifu put up a smile.

"Second, our species are alike- a tiger and a panther, which more likely for him to cooperate. Third, you forgot we have no _idea_ where the guy is, and know how to find him." She said the last sentence while pointing at her nose.

"And finally, when I stood up against him, he looked at me like… like he _knows_ me." She finished her arguments.

The rest of the six exchanged looks, and shrugged.

Shifu took a long look at the distant mountains. Finally he said: "very well. You will go."

Crane was glad he didn't have to complete **this** certain mission.


	4. Chapter three: a Helping Hand

Disclaimer (bummer...):

Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks

Chronos's name and conceptual looks © sega

**CLAIMER:**

**Everything else that has anything to do with Chronos and the storyline © me!**

**BIG THANKS TO MY AWESOME SIS FOR BETA AND HUGE NECESSARY CHANGES!**

**AS USUAL, R&R and enjoy!**

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><p><span>Chapter three-<span> a Helping Hand

Tigress set out after few instructions from Po, instructions about where the black tiger has escaped -as much as Po managed to see. Her first destination was the capital city. Outside of the city there were still clear traces of their battle against Chronos, and inside the city there was still great damage that was the battalion's deeds.

She entered the city and started asking for directions. But no matter whoever she asked, everyone told her the same thing: "do not enter the boundaries of Doom Mountain."

"Don't you dare, you hear me?" shouted an old sheep who was the last of a long list of people who didn't gave her any instructions what-so-ever. After that incident Tigress gave up due to the obvious unhelpfulness, and decided to rely only on herself.

It was pretty easy to track down the trails, because Chronos left a lot of destruction on his path. Crushed bushes and stomped plants were all over the place. When she reached at the foot of the mountain she smiled internally and whispered: "so I guess _this_ is Doom Mountain?"

On the mountain itself there were barely any trails at all, because this was where Chronos stopped running amok. Tigress looked around and with no other resources to work with her sense of smell came into action.

It was difficult to find any clues but here and there she was able to find black short hairs that fell off Chronos' wounded areas. They gave away his scent and created some kind of trail to a cavern on the top of the mountain. The cavern that was his home. She found him there, lying inside the cave, groaning in pain, helpless.

The shadow her body casted on the cave woke him up, and he was scared to see her. He thought she was going to take advantage of the situation and kill him, but he had nothing to do about it. He bent his ears, pulled out his fangs and claws, and growled in hostility. But it did nothing to scare her away, because Tigress knew how he was unable to do anything.

Every step she took made him even more scared. He growled louder and eventually, desperately tried to get up.

It was an unsuccessful try, he collapsed to the ground the very moment he rose. He couldn't get up with only one healthy limb. And now his poor condition was visible.

"I did not come here to fight you." Tigress said quietly, retaining a peaceful expression.

The black tiger's ears straightened up and his eyes widened with surprise. Then he looked away from her, pulling in his fangs and claws.

"Who are you?" his voice was un-naturally low and scary. Chronos himself got alarmed, after all- he hasn't used his voice for a whole two years. Tigress was also very scared because of his voice, yet her expression never changed a bit, Shifu was a great teacher.

"My name is Tigress, I'm an elite kung- fu warrior, a member of the Furious five, and the adopted daughter of master Shifu."

Chronos only cared about the first part. "Why are you here?"

He didn't bother asking how she found him. He knew he lost the fur that was on his wounds, and he knew he could easily find the scent himself.

"I've come to help you."

Chronos was surprised once more, and he stared at her. While turning his face away from her, he said: "thank you."

It was the only thing he said before Tigress helped him up, and put his arm over her shoulder. Actually, it was the only thing he said along the long way to the Jade Palace.

Tigress tried to get him to talk, but her efforts were in vain. She also tried to say things like: "watch for that rock", "you're doing well" and- "we're almost there" in attempt to break the silence. But even though he wanted he couldn't response, he was too exhausted from the pain.

…

When Tigress and Chronos finally reached the foot of Jade Mountain Chronos flinched with fear and almost fell off of Tigress's grip.

Tigress was confused, "what happened?" she asked when she saw his hostile look facing the stairs. "He's here; I can feel his scent all over the place."

"Don't worry, he isn't here right now," said Tigress with a relaxed voice, although she had no idea what the black tiger was talking about.

When they reached the top of the stairs Chronos flinched again and despite the weakness that prevailed through his entire body, he struggled until he unwound himself out of Tigress' grip and fell on all four- still, barely standing. His pupils were unnaturally narrow, his ears were bent, fangs and claws exposed, and he hostilely growled towards the building.

"What the-" Tigress started saying, but her head quickly turned over to the same point Chronos was looking at. At the entrance of the palace Shifu was talking with someone she couldn't see. After a moment the figure moved forward so Tigress could see who it was that Shifu was talking with. They both turned to look over to her, and suddenly it struck her; it was Po.

A horrifying look in his eyes, Chronos said in a deadly voice: "**The murderer."**


	5. Chapter four: first friendship

been a while, *chuckles nervously* yeah... sorry about that. the next update will also be slow, 'cause i will be out for about a week.

Disclaimer :

Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks

Chronos's name and conceptual looks © sega

**CLAIMER:**

**Everything else that has anything to do with Chronos and the storyline © me!**

as always, **BIG THANKS TO MY AWESOME SIS FOR BETA AND HUGE NECESSARY CHANGES!**

**and HUGE thanks to all of you for taking the time to read my story, and also for waiting patiently for my slow updates, YOU GUYS ARE SIMPLY PURE AWESOMENESS!** (is that even grammarly correct?)

Also, english is not my main language, so feel free to correct me if misspelled anything, or wrote anything grammarly incorrect. (for some reason, i get the feeling i just did.)**  
><strong>

**AS USUAL, Read and enjoy!**

**P.S.עם מישהוא מעוניין יש גירסא של הסיפור "קרונוס" בעברית. פשוט חפשו פאנפיקים בקטגוריה קונג-פו פנדה שבשפה העברית  
><strong>

**please review! it only takes a few seconds. only a "nice" "cool" "boring" "like it" "hate it" "need more describing" or even a "PURE AWESOMENESS!" **will do** ( maybe except for the last one)  
><strong>

Chapter four- new friend

Po looked around confused. "Murderer?" he said, "what? I... wha..."

Everyone was stunned. It was clear that the Panther-looking tiger was afraid of Po, but no one expected something that harsh.

Tigress was the first one to regain composure. She went to Po and with an apologizing look she whispered "sorry, but I think maybe you should go." Po was offended from the black tiger reaction, but walked away anyway, mumbling to himself.

Tigress looked back at Chronos, who haven't taken his eyes off of Po for a moment and kept growling.

Tigress bowed to her master, and said with the same apologizing tone, "he is not very comfortable with the presence of other people, so I think you should go too." But Shifu was already ahead of her and left the place with hasty but typically peacfull steps.

Tigress looked back at Chronos once again, and noticed his eyes were still locked on the point where Po disappeared around a wall.

She kneeled to him and said with a calm voice "its okay, he's gone." Chronos stared at her.

Tigress repeated her words calmly, and finally he opened his mouth, "you said he wasn't even here." His voice was still low and scary, and with the anger it contained at the moment, it sounded almost unnatural, but he was so exhausted, his weakness made him much less scarier to her.

Tigress pinched her nose bridge with her fingers, and exhaled loudly. She needed to think.

"I said that because otherwise you would have stayed outside and freeze to death. You need help and you can't survive by your own, especially in your condition. Besides, Po's harmless."

_As long as you're not wishing for his cookies,_ Tigress thought without much humor.

Chronos eyes widened, but his ears stayed flattened on his head, and he was still on all four.

"You **need **to accept help of others. You have nothing to worry about, we're all friends here." It was weird for her to say this, but yet she had the feeling it was the right thing to say.

Chronos seemed surprised by the word. "Friends," he murmured bitterly.

He pulled in his claws and held on to the hand that Tigress held out for him. He stood up again, and together they entered the sleeping barracks where everyone was sound asleep.

The closer they both got to the barracks, the more Chronos' fear was visible. Yet, he showed no hostility, he knew it was pointless especially when he could barley defend himself. He was extremely uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, he won't attack you in the middle of the night." Tigress said gently.

It felt very weird for her to show any emotion, she always wore her 'mask' to cover up anything that might turn her in as weak. But she couldn't help seeing the helpless and terrified feline, and also, if she would act all 'hardcore' with him, he probably wouldn't cooperate.

They both entered Tigress' room. It was a small room with the minimal requirements; a bed near the door, a shelf, a closet, and a sling hanger which appeared to not been used for years. Tigress helped Chronos to sit on her bed while she pulled out bandages and a stick and started bandaging his wounds and setting his broken paw.

Chronos didn't make any noise or showed any reaction. He watched silently as she pulled the cloth around his hand. The way the female tiger took care of him reminded him of the same warm way his father used to take care of him, it was a good memory. It was incredibly painful, but there was nothing to be done if he wanted his paw to heal.

When tigress pushed the broken bone in his palm to place with the stick, a loud 'crack' echoed in the room. Chronos didn't react at all, except of a small twitch in his eyes.

Tigress was able to capture the twitch and that made her worried. "Didn't that hurt?" she asked with great concern.

"What do you think?" he asked sarcastically, "If I want to heal I have no choice but to ignore it." His look drifted of to an invisible point at the floor.

Tigress was shocked, but said nothing.

After she finished bandaging she took a bowl with dirt- powder inside and poured water into it. She took the mud-like mixture and spread a thick layer on the broken arm. "Do not move until it dries off," She instructed.

After she was done she opened her closet and pulled out an old but of good quality slinger.

"You must be tired." Tigress pointed out the obvious while hanging the slinger on its hanger near the window. "I used to sleep in this as a cub. It might be a little old, but it's also strong and big enough to be in the use of an adult."

She helped him up and sat him down on the slinger. He instinctively cuddled into himself when she backed away. The slinger made him feel like a cub, and it was incredibly comfortable.

"Sleep tight, you're not going to have an easy night."

Tigress opened the room's door, and just before she went out she heard Chronos mumbling: "like any other night."

**…**

Tigress entered the kitchen for dinner, and as usual, Po was there making some noodle soup for the five. When she sat down on her usual spot near Viper, she felt everyone's eyes on her.

She decided to ignore it, but after long five minutes she just couldn't stand it anymore. "WHAT?" she yelled angrily. Everyone turned back to look at their own plates, embarrassed, and continued eating.

Only Mantis finally got the courage to ask; "How is he?"

"The panther?" Tigress asked although the answer was obvious. Again, only Mantis nodded, although everyone else also paid close attention to the feline.

"Well, his palm is more injured then I thought and his wounds are infected. Probably because of the neglect. And he doesn't even show any response to pain, except for…" she paused.

"Except for what?" asked Po, who couldn't bare his curiosity.

"When I set his bone straight, his eye twitched, but just a little. If I looked a moment later I would have missed it." She stared at her bowl, buried in thoughts.

The rest instantly jumped at the opportunity to ask questions; "Did you speak to him? What's his name? Who is he? Who trained him?"

Tigress wasn't alarmed of the sudden burst of questions. "No, actually, he doesn't speak at all. And judging by his voice, he haven't spoke a single word for years." She finished eating and got up from the table towards the sleeping barracks.

When she entered the room Chronos woke up immediately, alarmed. "It's okay," She said in a low voice. He already lay down and turned away when he saw it was just her, and fell asleep almost instantly.

Tigress woke up during the night to check on Chronos.

He twisted in his sleep and cold sweat trickled from his face, his eyes were closed tight and he was breathing heavily.

"Like any other night." His voice echoed in her mind. _So that's what he was talking about._ She thought.

Her expression was merciful and she took a blanket from her closet, to cover him up. While she went back to her bed, she thought it was a good thing he didn't wake up. She was sure he wouldn't want her mercy.

**…**


	6. Chapter five: recovery

Sorry it took ling for this one, but it is much longer than the others, and also I tried to put in some humor. (I spend five hours on translating and editing this one **not** including the time that took me to go over it again with my sister) and also school is starting in less than a week (aw man!) so I'll probably have much less time for myself, none the less to write. *gun click* ahh… maybe I do have some time…can we talk this over?

Anyway, Let's get to business by saying;

Disclaimer :

Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks

Chronos's name and conceptual looks © sega

**CLAIMER:**

**Everything else that has anything to do with Chronos and the storyline © me!**

as always, **BIG THANKS TO MY AWESOME SIS FOR HUGE NECESSARY CHANGES! (and also for staying up at 1:30 AM to finish the beta!)**

**and HUGE thanks to all of you for taking the time to read my story, and also for waiting patiently for my slow updates, and for the awesome reviews! YOU GUYS ARE SIMPLY AWESOME!**

Also, english is not my main language, so feel free to correct me if misspelled anything, or wrote anything grammarly incorrect. (for some reason, i get the feeling i just did.)

**AS USUAL, Read and enjoy!**

**P.S.****אם מישהו מעוניין יש גירסא של הסיפור ****"קרונוס****" בעברית****. פשוט חפשו פאנפיקים בקטגוריה קונג****-פו פנדה שבשפה העברית**

**please review! it only takes a few seconds. only a "nice" "cool" "boring" "like it" "hate it" "need more describing" will do. ( a "lol" lmao" or "roflmfao" will be gladly accepted.) **

* * *

><p><span>Chapter five <span>– recovery

That morning, right after Tigress woke up, she glanced again towards Chronos. He was still lying on the slinger cuddled in a ball, exactly like yesterday, but his eyes were open – apparently he was awake for a few hours now. He was facing the window, and the blanket was in a pile on the floor underneath him. It probably fell when he was asleep.

Tigress never got the chance to look at him properly till now. She examined him now; he was a bit taller then her, his body was big and muscular, it was obvious he wasn't the weak type. His eyes were yellow and his pupils were as dark as his black fur.

His built was actually tiger-like, and only his color resembled a panther. He wore only a pair of long brown leather pants that was tore down where he got hurt. On his hands he wore two leather cuffs, brown as well.

"Good morning," she said without thinking. He quickly turned to look at her and returned to stare at the window when he saw it was only her.

"Good morning," he responded. His was beginning to sound better.

Tigress had a mind on trying again to get him to talk, but she stopped herself. The only thing she could think of was 'how did you sleep?' and she already knew the answer to that.

"We're having a breakfast in a while, so just follow the smell – Po's a great chef."

Maybe she shouldn't have said the last part. His face showed no reaction, but she caught something else – he bent down his ears to the name.

While she was trying to figure what to say Po got up and went out of his room, yawning and stretching. The morning light contoured his silhouette explicitly through the thin walls. Tigress looked concerned at Chronos that was following Po with his eyes; he didn't hiss, show his claws or teeth, and his pupils didn't change. But he held his breath and he followed with horror the big silhouette.

His body showed much tension, and when Po was in front of her door Tigress could swear she saw beads of sweat rolling down his temples. Only when Po was finally out of the sleeping barracks Chronos let himself let out the breath he held with great relief.

When Tigress entered the kitchen everyone's eyes was on her, again. Sitting in her usual sit next to Viper, she said: "if it's going to be like this every time I enter a room, I _swear_ I'm gonna hit someone."

Everyone turned to their plates, uncomfortable.

Everyone except for Viper, who was waiting impatiently for Tigress to arrive, so she could ask her about Chronos.

"Well, how is he?" the question annoyed Tigress a bit, because the answer wasn't pleasant at all.

"Err… he.." she tried to think what to tell her friend.

"Maybe we can talk about this later?" she finally said quietly in viper's ear. Viper nodded. She was far more understanding then the rest of the five – and although she was dying to know what is going on, she didn't push Tigress. There will enough time later on.

For three days Chronos didn't live the slinger.

Not to practice, not to generally stretch his bones, not to eat – even when Po wasn't even there. He just lay there, asleep or awake and staring at the window. Most of the time he watched Tigress when she talked, sometimes even answered.

At night he was always sweaty and his eyes were always tight shut. And he always tensed when Po was in the corridor.

After three days, the five began to think they'll never get to see him.

…

Tigress finished her breakfast and turned to Po to whisper something in his ear, then took a bowl with soup and a spoon over to her room.

When she entered the room Chronos wasn't alarmed, he already got used to her presence and knew it was her entering the room.

But he did responded to the smell, and turned slowly to look at the plate without much enthusiasm.

"I thought you are probably hungry. You ate nothing for three days." She said putting down the bowl on the shelf, followed by Chronos's look.

"So, ahh…" tigress said, not really knowing what to say next. "…enjoy." She finally said before she exited the room and went to the training dojo, leaving Chronos to stare at the bowl.

When she came back he was still staring at the bowl, as if he wasn't even seeing it anymore.

Tigress woke up refreshed after a long slumber, and without thinking much she prepared herself to the 'good morning' tradition. The gong rang across the halls and she quickly left her room. Unison of "good morning master" was heard and they all started walking to the kitchen. Tigress was about to leave the barracks when she heard Chronos. "Tigress," he called to her.

She quickly entered her room and her look caught sight of the bowl - it was empty. Chronos looked at her, slightly embarrassed. "…thanks…" he mumbled.

"You're welcome." Tigress said turning to the door to hide her smile, and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

…

After a while of training session the six were summoned by master Shifu.

"We have a mission…" he started, saying his regular opening before every mission, "China's emperor is going to the border for negotiation with our neighboring nation. There are several reports of gangs being seen around China's boundaries in the last two days-"

"YES! We're gonna kick some butts! WOHOO!" Po interrupted, causing everyone to stare at him and roll their eyes at his stupidity. "…sorry."

"Yes," Shifu continued "you are going to bodyguard the emperor, as Po said 'kick some butts'." Everyone laughed except for Po who shifted his weight mumbling gibberish. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Go!" Shifu ordered and everyone set out, except for Tigress.

She was hesitating. "Master, what about-" she started saying but was cut off.

"Yes Tigress." He raised his hand. "I know what you're going to say, you will stay to take care of the panther."

Tigress smiled thankfully, it was exactly what she wanted to hear.

"Thank you master." She said and bowed respectfully to her master.

…

At that night Chronos had even worse nightmares than usual. Visions chased him none-stop, the picture of his parents being slashed to death was everywhere. There was no escape. Chronos ran and ran terrified to death (literally) until something forced him to stop. In front of him he saw the panda, flexing his finger and-

Chronos woke up with a loud gasp. He was covered with cold sweat and panted heavily. He looked around to make sure he didn't wake anybody. Tigress was in her bed, asleep.

Chronos sniffed the air; nobody was in the barracks except for the two felines. _Ok… that's weird._ He thought. Also, it was a lot more quiet then usual. _At least that bloody panda won't bother my sleep with his snoring._

He looked around and spotted something new. He had an unfamiliar blanket over him that smelled like soap, and a very weak scent of…Tigress.

He looked at her, she showed no signs that could apply the blanket's source, except for the smell. He smirked to himself.

He also noticed unconsciously the way her fur glowed in the moonlight. He diverted his eyes from her. Slowly and painfully he got off the slinger to all four, and exited the barrack without standing up.

Tigress opened her eyes carefully, and sneaked right after him, unnoticed.

When Chronos was out he slowly rose on two feet. Every inch his back straightened up the more cracks was heard, _ouch_.

It was painful, but it also felt incredibly good. He started walking and slowly sped up until finally he was running. After a moment of full-speed run he leaped about 5 feet off the ground - it felt wonderful, but it didn't last long. He tried to manage a double kick in the air- but he failed due to his wounds, and fell on all four. Groaning because of the painful landing he got up slowly, mumbling "big mistake."

He walked to the Jade Mountain's stairs and sat down on the first step.

"Rough night, huh?" Tigress tried to make up her mind on what to say, and settled on this.

Chronos jumped and turned to her, alarmed. "Sorry." the female tiger apologized while sitting down next to him.

Chronos sat back down and turned back to stare at the moon. "Thought you were asleep." he said accusingly.

Tigress smiled. She hesitated again about her next words. It was the perfect time to get him to talk, and she wouldn't want to miss this chance.

"You know, you don't look like a panther at all." She finally said.

He turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not." He said as if he was stating the obvious. His voice sounded much better.

She blushed slightly, it was an embarrassing mistake.

"But the color-"

"Just because I'm black doesn't mean I'm a panther." He interrupted her sentence, a bit annoyed.

"Sooo…" Tigress said again, _well,_ _this is awkward._ She thought.

"Do you have a name?" she completed her sentence. He didn't say anything about his name since he arrived to the Jade palace.

"Chronos." He answered. _Hmm, very unusual_ _name_ Tigress thought.

"Do _you_ have a name? Except for 'Tigress'?" he asked with interest.

"Yes, but I think I'll settle with Tigress." She said look straight at his face.

"Okay… Can I know your _real_ name?" Chronos said, grinning at the silliness of the situation

"Mei-Sing." Tigress sighed.

There was a short period of silence, when Chronos was staring at the moon again.

"He really did mention something about the color…" he said contemplatively.

Tigress was eaten inside out by her curiosity, but she restrained herself to not to turn it in.

"_He_?" she asked casually, raising an eyebrow. Chronos lowered his look to the distant mountains.

"My father." Tigress could see it wasn't a pleasant subject.

"Oh." Tigress nodded, adjusting the new information. "Who was he?" she asked as if by the way. Chronos smiled contemplatively, and he laughed when he said, "He was a turtle."

"Was he your adoptive father?"

"No, he was my real father. I'm half turtle." He said sarcastically.

"What do you think?" he yelled when he saw she was beginning to believe him. Tigress blushed and laughed nervously, but she regretted it as she saw Chronos's face. She touched again the painful subject. _Ugh, control yourself! This is going worse then I thought. Where is Shifu when you need him…_ She thought.

"It's a long story, Sure you wanna hear?"

Tigress couldn't help herself. "Yes."

Chronos sighed.

"When I was a few days old… two people were murdered in front of my eyes. I guess they were my parents. This image was burned into my mind - but I only remember a blurred picture." He stopped uncomfortably, gazing upon the feline, who stared at him in a very weird way.

"Sorry." She apologized and stopped her look quickly. "Continue."

"I saw someone who I assume was my twin brother, being taken from a cradle next to mine… and I was taken by someone else. I didn't see where he was taken, but me - I was dumped in the middle of nowhere." There was anger in his voice.

"Doom Mountain." Tigress mumbled, receiving a nod from Chronos.

"A few days afterwards," he continued, "I was found by a giant turtle and for some reason, he decided to adopt me. He took care of me like a son and taught me _everything_. Behavior, martial art, history, even… even hunting." He laughed at the last word. "What kind of a turtle can teach a cub about hunting?" he said smiling. Tigress grinned as well.

"When I grew and was able to take care of myself, he wasn't there all the time. He visited me once a day to check on me. When I was little I already 'fought' trees and rocks. Even shields and armors that I found in a nearby deserted fortress. I was afraid. Who knew, that hooded figure could come and slay me at any second. "

Tigress was amazed to acknowledge how powerful his trauma was.

"One day, when I was already grown up, he just stopped coming. It was about two weeks before…" he looked down, pain showing on his face, "before _it_ happened."

"A flash of black and white - and a terrifying feeling of forced isolation. Isolation from the **world**, from life. Darkness and void enveloping me from every side."  
>Tigress trembled over the dark description. She didn't notice the way her body bended in his direction, his voice was weak compared to the night noises and she was trying to hear him better.<p>

"That made me lose my mind. I had to do something. I started ramming myself onto everything that crossed my sight, destroying everything I see, but it was a long time since I couldn't feel pain. I didn't know whether I'm dead or alive…" he sighed, closing he's eyes, and putting his healthy paw on his face, devastated by the memory.

"I couldn't sleep anymore. It haunted me in my sleep, over and over, all the time. For years all of this kept on going like this. It was unbearable…" he voice weakened.

Tigress remembered the look of his face during the fight, and when he saw Po in the palace's entrance. She remembered his narrowed pupils, and his wild expression that made him look monstrous.

"-is that why you barely sleep?" Tigress asked him continuing the stream of her thoughts.

Chronos lowered his look "yes."

It was very uncomfortable for him that someone he barely knows know so much about him. But he had to tell it to somebody. He was used to tell his dad everything that happened to him. And it had been years now that he had nobody to speak with, at all… Besides, it looks like he is going to stay there for a while, so somebody has to know this stuff.

"Every living creature I saw I killed on the spot. I couldn't run away from this feeling, until I met you. When your friends attacked me and managed to hurt me, it was a relief to feel _something_ again, but it wasn't enough."

"The guy who defeated you with one strike wasn't me. The guy who broke his hand because of this punch - that was me. Only then I knew I'm alive."

She felt regret for the pain that was caused to Chronos of their hands, but she knew they had no choice.

"Then _he_ popped in front of me- the same one from the vision, the one that made me experience death. What I trained for so long so I could get away from it, was right on front of me. The rest you already know."

His next words left Tigress dumbfounded. Chronos took a long breath before saying;

"The warmth with which you took care of me, the way you did not lose your patience when I was on that slinger for days, reminded me of my father… thank you."

There was another short silence as Chronos thought carefully of his next words, like something he didn't realize until now, and Tigress could see that.

"I was going through some kind of… depression." He frowned. "Not the sad kind of depression, but like the mental disease. Like… I don't know." He put his palm on his forehead and ran it down his face. "It was as if I didn't want or _could _do anything except for breathing. Like... ughh, never mind." He gave up.

But it seemed like Tigress understood, and she smiled at him encouragingly.

He rose from the stairs and bowed to her. Tigress nodded in response and got up as well to get back inside. They both walked back to the barracks.

"Oh," said Chronos before falling asleep "and thanks for the blanket."

…

Tigress woke up and absentmindedly went to the kitchen to get something for breakfast. To her surprise, Chronos was there.

"Good morning," she said, surprised but smiling.

"Oh, ahh… morning." He answered, a little embarrassed remembering how much she knows about him now, but he shook it off.

"Um.. where is everyone?" he asked while sitting in front of her with an omelet in his plate.

"Po and the rest are on a mission body guarding the emperor, and master Shifu is in his cave." She pointed at the general direction of the 'inner peace' cave.

Chronos trembled a bit when Po's name was heard, but she could see that he tried to hide it.

"_Master_ Shifu…" he said complementally while giving Tigress half of the omelet.

"The red panda?" he said after a moment of thinking.

"Yes," said tigress, a bit surprised he recognized the name, which did not go unnoticed by Chronos.

"Well, I did saw you bow to him the other day." Chronos smirked.

They both finished eating and Tigress went to the training dojo.

Chronos looked at the feline as she went out of the kitchen, shrugged and followed her.

When they reached the dojo Chronos scratched the back of his head, looking around with wonder and longing.

Tigress smiled and pulled the lever. A large sound of cog-wheels echoed and the training machinery started working. At first Chronos stroke his stance but slowly lowered his guard, still trying to understand what's going on.

Tigress leapt into her favorite area (the one with the swinging spikes) and asked Chronos with a smirk, "Well, are you coming?"

* * *

><p><strong>mei- sing is actually mei- Xing, which means beautiful star. i thought "sing" sounds better the "Xing" so i changed it.<strong>

**also, HUGE credit for LTspade. the idea for naming tigress was mainly his**.


	7. Chapter six: back to nighmares

Sorry it's taking long, school is on (aw man!) so I have TONS of work and i have much less time for myself, none the less to write. Anyway, Let's get to business by saying;

Disclaimer :

Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks

Chronos's name and conceptual looks © sega

**CLAIMER:**

**Everything else that has anything to do with Chronos and the storyline © me!**

as always, **BIG THANKS TO MY AWESOME SIS FOR HUGE NECESSARY CHANGES! **

**and HUGE thanks to all of you for taking the time to read my story, and also for waiting patiently for my slow updates, and for the awesome reviews! YOU GUYS ARE SIMPLY AWESOME!**

Also, english is not my main language, so feel free to correct me if misspelled anything, or wrote anything grammarly incorrect. (for some reason, i get the feeling i just did.)

**AS USUAL, Read and enjoy!**

**P.S.****אם מישהו מעוניין יש גירסא של הסיפור "****קרונוס" ****בעברית. ****פשוט חפשו פאנפיקים בקטגוריה קונג-****פו פנדה בעברית,זה שם  
><strong>

**please review! it only takes a few seconds. You can even simply click "review" and type a single words like "Hmph!"- that will also do!**

Also, big thanks to LTspade, poetic freedom, FFcrazy, Randomskit, melodythefox and all of the other loyal reviewers out there, YOU GUYS ARE PURE AWESOMENESS!

Peace out.

Chapter six- back to health, back to nightmares

Tigress and Chronos have been practicing all day. Chronos, due to being wounded, used only his good arm to block and attack. He seemed to enjoy the experience of

using some new equipment, but mainly the company.

That night Tigress checked on him again. His breathing was calmed and slow, and there was even heard a slight purring. 'Cant believe I'm thinking this,' she thought

'but I gotta admit, this is rather _cute_.'

The morning after Tigress woke up and went to welcome the others after coming back from their mission. But Po wasn't there.

"Where's Po?" Tigress asked her friend when they all set to eat.

"He went on vacation with his father, for about two weeks." Viper replayed while she took herself a meal.

Tigress gazed in deep thought at her plate, and suddenly remembered Chronos.

She stood quickly from her sit, causing Viper to look at her. "What happened? Is something bothering you?"

Tigress shook her thoughts. "No, I just thought…"

"Yeah?" Viper goaded her to continue.

"Well, I thought… Po's not here, it's an opportunity for Chronos to get to know all of you." She said finally.

"So go, what are you waiting for?" viper encouraged her with a smile.

Chronos was still asleep when Tigress entered the room. She touched his shoulder and shook him slightly

"What…" Chronos started but a yawn took over the rest.

"Man, I haven't slept like that in… years!" Chronos said, a clear tone of surprise in his voice.

"Since…_that_." he flattened his ears to his head, saddened by the memory.

"Yeah… anyway," Tigress said, pulling Chronos's attention from the memory, as he raised both his head and ears, focusing his attention on her. "Yeah?"

"I was thinking you'd want to come eat breakfast, everyone's already in the kitchen. They want to meet you."

"Everyone?" asked Chronos, worry showing on his face.

"Except for Po, he'll be back in two weeks."

"Oh," Chronos nodded, relieved. "I think I'll come."

Tigress went back to the kitchen, and sat again near Viper.

"Well, how did it go?" Viper asked her.

"..." Tigress started to answer but her eyes looked over something behind Viper, and she smiled. Viper followed her gaze.

Near the door of the kitchen Chronos stood, leaning on the wall, a bit uncomfortable.

Silence lay over the room. Everyone exchanged looks when Chronos Walked slowly and finally sat in the empty chair in front of Tigress.

His eyes were locked on the table.

"So…" Viper chimed in, "Chronos, that's a nice name."

Chronos was alarmed. He took his eyes from the table, to Viper and from her to Tigress, and she noticed his anxiety.

"Yes…" he murmured nervously, "my father gave it to me." It seemed he was trying to hide his nervousness.

"Oh, who was he?" she asked.

Tigress shot a frightening look to Viper, as saying: "you shouldn't have said that!" Chronos looked from Viper to Tigress.

Tigress stopped her look once Chronos took his eyes off the table, but he was still suspicious.

The boys watched the exchange with interest, and were a little surprised when Chronos put an abrupt end to the matter: "It's not your business." He said.

He finished his food hurriedly and walked form the kitchen.

Tigress followed his steps, sighing.

When she opened her door she found him on his slinger, staring at the window.

"What else did you tell them?"

"Nothing, only your name." she answered. Chronos looked at her with surprise – she was dead serious.

"Sorry, it's just… I'm not used to being with other people…it's bad enough that you know so much, so an entire group…"

"I understand."

He looked at her, surprised again when she took a sit in front of him on her bed.

"I know how you feel, and you have my word, I won't tell. _You'll_ tell them when _you_ will be ready."

Chronos lowered his eyes to the floor. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Tigress debated on what to say when a small smile appeared on her face.

"Wanna go practice?" she asked him. She saw how much fun he had yesterday, both from the fact he had someone to train with and from the new equipment. Chronos rubbed his wounded ankle, approached the drawer and changed the bandage on his legs with his good hand and tail. "Why not." He said absentmindedly. The idea appealed to him – to practice with others, and to try other equipment which wasn't Tigress'.

Two weeks flew with training. Chronos practices mainly with Monkey on his devices, using his good hand and sometimes his tail to swing. He even took a bet with Monkey that he can bit him in tail-wrestling, and won. In exchange Monkey showed him how to use his tail more effectively.

After he felt he got the hang of it in Monkey's training-rings he turned to Mantis' obstacle course.

After a few failed attempts as also successful ones, Mantis offered him a bet with him, only about arm wrestling. Chronos laughed at first, but one try changed his mind.

When he trained with Crain on the giant turtle bowl he slowly succeeded to shove arrows with his legs too.

He also practiced with Viper, but from some reason he couldn't understand he enjoyed the most with Tigress.

When night fell they all sat around the bonfire, sharing horror tales and laughing.

Chronos was there, but he didn't participate much.

"And then, the enormous monster came close to him and…" Crane said while monkey sneaked behind him.

"And-"

"-And COUGHT HIM!" shouted Monkey when he's catching Crane in a bear hug, making crane and the others to squeal and shriek with laughter.

Mantis was laughing too, but then noticed how Chronos was all but staring into the fire. He decided to try and goad him.

"Well, Chronos, maybe you have some story for us?" everyone went quiet, awaiting his answer.

Chronos raised his head, surprise to find everyone watching him. Their smiles from Monkey's story were still there, and he was surprised to find out how pleasant it was to be smiled at. He smile too, he had an idea.

"It was in a dark night…" he began his story.

"Winds squalled, thunder roared, a horrifying storm blew the earth…" he lightly nudged with his foot one of the branches that stuck out of the bonfire, making sparks to descend into the dark night.

"The mysterious warrior was in his lair.. trying to get some sleep without any success…" he growled quietly to add a little more realism to the mood.

"It was several days since he last saw his friend, and he was lonely." Chronos watched for everyone's reactions.

"Suddenly! A vision hit him. No one could tell what it was, but it scared him to death.

He lost his mind, the vision was everywhere. His friend wasn't there to help him…he began destroying everything around him, all the little animals run for their life…"

He threw a dry twig into the bonfire, making the fire glow brighter for a moment.

"Any creature that came across the mountain area was attacked immediately by the warrior, and defeated.

Those who survived, was not able to say anything." Viper felt chills going through her.

He continued: "that is why, till this very day, the mountain is called Doom Mountain."

He growled again. "So if you happened to get into the area of Doom Mountain, know that your destiny…" he came to a halt.

"That what? What? Our destiny is _what_?" Mantis said with tension.

"Your destiny is… **raaghrrrr**!" he roared, making everyone jump on their sits. Monkey and Mantis hugged each other but separated fast enough, and Chronos laughed. It turned out exactly as he intended.

The five cheered for him, monkey giving a friendly punch in the shoulder. The moral was high.

After everyone calmed down it was Viper's turn. While Viper started her story, Tigress eyes slipped to Chronos almost unintentionally. She could see he wasn't so joyfull when he finished the tale, She knew why.

After a while of sharing stories around the campfire everyone went to their rooms for the night.

"You know," Chronos said, gathering Tigress's attention.

"Back then, when I just got to the palace, you said I need to 'accept' others help. The accepting part wasn't the problem, it's just I didn't know if I could trust you."

He paused for a moment, laying down on the slinger and cuddling into himself. "But now I know who my friends are." He finished. Tigress couldn't help but let out a smile. "Good night." She said before falling asleep.

The day after Po entered the kitchen during lunch time. "Hi everybody! I'm back!" he called cheerfully. They all stood and went to welcome him.

Everyone except for Chronos, who remained in his chair, tensed. When they sat again Chronos got up uncharacteristically fast. The five looked at him.

"Amm… I... uhh… I gotta go." He made an excuse and backed away quickly. They went back to their business, except for Tigress who was still staring at the point where he disappeared.

That night brought Chronos nightmares again.

He woke in panic for the who-know-how-many time that night, and finally sneaked out of the barracks. When he stood up in front of the stairs he untangled the bandages on his legs with his left hand and tail, and with one jump he took all the staircase of Jade Palace.

Tigress looked carefully around her to assure no one is seeing him and her, and set out after him.

He reached the ironwoods forest. He scanned the trees with interest. For a minute he just stood there, scanning the area. Then, he took his stance, and punched the nearest tree with his good arm, which cracked and fell backwards loudly.

Chronos lowered his ears and his shoulders tensed, looking around nervously. "Phew" he exhaled as he realized no one heard that, and started running. Tigress widened her eyes astounded and froze. It usually takes her about three or four strikes to completely break an ironwood tree. She quickly shook her thoughts and followed after Chronos's tracks.

Chronos ran for a quarter of an hour, his speed was noticeably coming back to him, as Tigress had a hard time keeping up with him.

Finally he stopped downhill one of the near mountains. He looked over his shoulder to check if he was far enough from town so nobody would hear the noise he was about to produce.

He straightened slow and steady, getting into fighting stance. He started striking and kicking with his arms and legs, with the exception of his bandaged hand, shattering trees and rocks with every single strike. He panted and looked around. The feeling of being himself again was remarkable, he smiled with self-satisfaction.

He looked at his bandaged arm, and began punching a tree with it, three times until the tree began to fall.

When it fell on him he struck upward with the good hand, cutting the tree in half, and pulled the two pieces to the sides.

The tiger looked at his bandaged arm and closed it in a fist, cracking the pieces of the mud-plaster that were still whole, and a loud noise of shattering was heard.

He smashed his fist against the ground. Loads of pieces from the mud-plaster flew in the air and the bandage fell to the ground.

Tigress was smiling too when she watched it but her smile disappeared in an instant; Chronos groaned and grabbed his head with both hands, collapsing to his knees. When he stood again his eyes were mad, he roared and started smashing everything around him.

Tigress ran to him with all of her strength. "Chronos!" she yelled, he turned to her, the same horrifying look in his eyes. She grabbed his shoulders. "Chronos! Snap out of it! It's me!" she yelled as she shook him with force. He shut his eyes tight, cold sweat appearing on his body.

Panting, Chronos opened his eyes with relief. Both' breath came out in short bursts, and they sat on the ground with a thud. Chronos didn't dare looking at her after what just happened.

"Thank you…" he breathed out, his eyes lowered to the floor.


	8. Chapter seven: the fear tests

**(A\N) **Disclaimer :

Kung fu panda 1&2 © dreamworks

Chronos's name and conceptual looks © sega **(chronos's NON-CONCEPTUAL LOOKS © me and my sis!)**

**CLAIMER:**

**Everything else that has anything to do with Chronos and the storyline © me!**

As always, **BIG THANKS TO MY AWESOME SIS FOR HUGE NECESSARY CHANGES! And this time also for doing all the work of translating!**

**P.S. ****אם מישהוא מעוניין בתרגום של הפאנפיק לעברית****, ****פשוט חפשו בקטגוריה של קונג פו****- ****פנדה בעברית****.**

**Please review! It only takes a few seconds. You can even simply click "review" and type a single word- that will also do!**

**IMPORTANT****- I'v updated my avatar; there's a drawing of Chronos, not a sprite- an actual drawing according to what he looks like in the story! Due to fanfiction's sprite rules (not larger than 150 pixels) it's not the best quality, I'll try to post a link to the full- size pic. Simply have a look at my profile! i'v worked a whole week on this one!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter six- the fear tests

Chronos wasn't proud about the night before, actually, he wanted to bury himself the minute he woke up in Tigress' room. '_Stupid visions, I can't believe that I almost killed tigress last night'_ He mentally kicked himself. '_Why in the world did I do that?'_ Suddenly, a surge of pain shot through his head. '_Agh'_ he grabbed his head '_better not to think about it now.'_ It was as if something didn't _want _Chronos to think about it. He just laid there and waited for Tigress to wake up.

"Now that I'm finally healed…" Chronos stated contemplatingly. "I think I should go see Shifu, and ask him to teach me. I'm sure he knows more than I do." He was laying on the slinger on his stomach, one hand under his chin, staring at the floor, his tail swishing slowly from side to side.

Tigress sat on her bed, stretching her arms in front of her with her fingers combined, making crack noises from her knuckles.

"Well, you could try. But I have to warn you: his trainings aren't what to be called 'fun'." Tigress smiled remembering how Po was on his first couple of days as the dragon warrior.

…

It was breakfast, Chronos tried as hard as he can to ignore Po.

They ate casually, but there was tension in the air. Monkey decided he was sick of it. A cunning smile spread on his face. He sneaked over to Crane's left side and tapped his right shoulder, near Po.

At first Crane ignored it, but after the third time he punched Po's shoulder 'in return'.

"So that's how it goes, eh?" Po said, smiling devilishly.

"Skadoosh!" he kicked lightly Crane's chair and the avian fell loudly to the floor. "Man, what was that?" Crane yelled. The fight evolved fast, filling the kitchen with noise and turmoil. Everybody was drowned into it, except for the girls and Chronos, who wasn't in the mood for a fight for an obvious reason.

"Men." Tigress said in Viper's ear, which nodded in agreement.

The fight went on until Monkey accidentally kicked the table. All of the plates moved a bit but miraculously stayed on the table, except for Chronos' which slipped to the floor with a horrible shattering noise.

Chronos did nothing, sighed annoyed and bent his ears in chagrin, his gaze not moving from the table.

"Oh, sorry." Monkey said, taking out a new plate for Chronos, but the main bowl was already empty.

Po looked around, and finally took his overflowing plate and put half of it to Chronos' plate.

"Don't worry, I haven't touched it yet." He said friendly when Chronos looked at him, utterly surprise.

The tiger stared at his plate self-conscious and murmured, "…thanks…"

…

Chronos entered the cavern in which Shifu spent most of his time, known as 'the cave of peace'.

Shifu was there, naturally, standing in an impossible balance, on the tip of his staff.

A tiny twitch occurred in Shifu's ear, and Chronos figured he heard him.

"Master, my name is Chronos…" he stopped, not sure to how go about it.

"Yes, Panther, continue," Said Shifu, not moving a single muscle.

"I'm not a panther!" Chronos said immediately, a bit annoyed.

Shifu opened his eyes, leaped off his stick and circled around Chronos, scanning him closely.

"Yes, I see…" he said, murmuring to himself other unrecognizable words.

"Who taught you fighting?" Shifu asked him.

"A giant turtle." He answered, eyeing the red panda who was still walking around him.

Shifu stopped circling around Chronos, a serious expression forming his features.

"Until when did he teach you?" he asked, Chronos sighed.

They sat on the ground as Chronos began telling him his life story.

"I need you to help me get rid of these visions." Chronos concluded, "That's why I need you to teach me."

Shifu was shocked. Seeing his expression, Chronos started to feel irritated.

"Can you tell me what is going _on_?" he said impatiently, noticeably unhappy with not being told of what's happening.

"You learned from non-other then Master Oogway." Said Shifu.

"So my dad's name was Oogway?" he frowned, not quite grasping the importance of the news.

"Grand Master Oogway was the inventor of kung-fu, and he was the one who taught me."

It was Chronos turn to be shocked. "_Grand_ master Oogway? Huh?" Chronos repeated Shifu's words, getting more and more confused by the minute.

"So you're saying, that the one who taught you, was the same one who taught me?" he said, a bit shocked, and finally realizing the reason for Shifu's awe.

The red panda nodded, remaining silence.

"We'll start tomorrow." The master concluded, still a bit amazed, and went back to his meditation.

Chronos got back to Tigress' room and stretched over his slinger.

"Well? How did it go?" she asked when she found him there.

"Not bad, I start tomorrow." He answered staring at the window, "he agreed to help me with the visions." In spite of the good news, his face wasn't enthusiastic.

"Those are good news, aren't they?" Tigress patted his shoulder encouragingly.

"Well, yes…but.." Chronos said, shifting his eyes to her and back to the floor. "But I'm not sure that even _he_ knows how to solve my problem."

His last words stunned the feline, and a bit angered her, but despite that she tried to remain patient. "Master Shifu helped all of us, he'll be able to help you too." She sounded a little stern.

"Try to sleep, believe me, you'll need it." She said with a slight chuckle while she cuddled in her bed. They greeted each other goodnight.

…

For a week Chronos got back every day exhausted, collapsing to his bed and cuddling to himself, too tired to say anything more than a simple "goodnight" or to even cover himself with his blanket properly. Every night, after he fell asleep, Tigress covered him with his blanket with a smile. 'This is _really_ not like me' she mused in one of those days, While falling asleep herself.

…

Shifu and Chronos were standing in front of each other, ten meters apart on a vast field on the top of the mountain near the village. The grass was green and nice-looking, the wind gently whispered among the many tiny plants, which bended in response. It looked so inviting that Chronos was thinking he should spend more time outside, because he really liked this place.

He sniffed the air, clearly enjoying the moment before dropping into his stance out of habit. To his surprise Shifu simply laughed.

"We're not doing that today." He said smiling at his pupil. Strangely his smile reminded Chronos of Oogway, but he shook it.

Shifu gestured to his left, Chronos followed with his eyes. There were about ten hoops standing in the field, each in different height but all with a tube attached to them. Shifu snapped his fingers and the hoops burst in flames.

"I'm going to give you a series of tests. In each of the tests you will have to overcome some kind of fear." Chronos made a childish face and then smiled. He began to run and with agility jumped through one hoop after another, _'it's not any more difficult than jumping between rocks back at home_' he thought.

But he almost missed at the last hoop and burned a spot on his arm, a bit below the shoulder. He clenched the wounded area and growled when he landed. Shifu was quick to help him, and bandaged the area with soft leaves that grew there.

"Well," Shifu said smiling when they started toward the palace, trying to light up the mood. "You passed."

When they got to the palace Chronos walked straight to tigress' room, the burn on his fur showed noticeably.

Tigress startled at the sight of it. "What happened?" she asked, visibly concerned.

Chronos smiled internally. Suddenly he fell to the ground, groaning, "Bandits… ambush…"

Tigress gasped with shock, but before she had a chance to say anything he quickly stood again. "Just kidding." He grinned, brushing the dust off of himself.

"What!" Tigress shouted. "Do _not_ scare me like this again!" she punched him hard in the shoulder, then bent with pain, hugging her arm. "Ouch!.."

Chronos was speechless, confused with her reaction. "Sorry..." he looked aside feeling bad, "umm… but it's not… like I punched you… so…uhh" he stopped.

Tigress made a face, but when she realized how ridiculous it was (and also the pain in her arm dulled) she burst out in laugh, and Chronos found himself laughing with her, obviously relived.

"…but seriously, don't scare me like this." She regained composure after a couple of breathless minutes. "So what actually happened?" She asked, remembering the original topic of the conversation.

"Today I went through the first test in order to stop the visions, 'The fire test'." He emphasized the quotations with his fingers.

"It wasn't so hard… except for this burn. I lost focus for a second." Chronos approached the cabinet and took a new bandage out of it, moistened it and wrapped it over the burn.

Tigress blinked with surprise. "Well," she said shortly after.

"I hope Shifu knows what he's doing."

…

Outside the rooms, was a very stunned snake. '_Did she just-_' she stopped, unable to complete the thought due to shock. The sound of Tigress' laugh wasn't a common event. '_Wow, there must be something about this Chronos guy_.' She thought while slithering to the training dojo.

…

Few weeks of more hard training went over Chronos.

Shifu and the tiger were standing now on the verge of a wide river that was the outcome of a waterfall that started at Shifu's cavern.

The river was waist level, pretty clear, and the flow was slow. Most of the river was shadowed but there were some not-so-big spots where the sun glistened on the water.

Chronos looked at the river with reluctant eyes. He blinked. '_Hell no.'_

"Let me guess, the next test is water and it's going to happen now, isn't it?" said the tiger, sighing.

Master Shifu smiled. "Yes, your next test is water. You ought to get inside and then back out."

"Seriously?" Chronos dropped his shoulders, clearly not liking the idea. "It's not like I'm _afraid_ of water, but still, I don't really like it…" he stopped, feeling a chill going through him. "And when can I stop?" he asked without much hope.

Shifu smiled with his usual tranquility.

"When I see no hesitance. Every twitch, every delay, even the slightest, that can suggest hesitation – you'd have to jump again." Shifu smiled, enjoying the priceless expression on Chronos face when he heard the last words.

"Do I have to?..." he asked although the answer was obvious, and sighed.

"Let us begin." Shifu announced, obviously amused.

Chronos was walking from side to side on the bank, studying the water.

The expression on Shifu's face didn't change. Finally Chronos jumped into the water. He jumped out immediately.

Chronos looked to Shifu. The poor tiger was soaking wet, and he hated that feeling.

Shifu studied him. "Again," he said.

Chronos got back in immediately, but there was still hesitation in his movements. "Again." Shifu repeated.

"But you weren't even looki-" "**again!**"

Chronos already knew to say the words with the Master.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Again!"

All day went like this, it was a day of horrible wetness.

Three days passed and Chronos was beginning to think that it wasn't so bad after all, even nice considering the fact that it was the hot season.

The fourth day came and found Chronos at the bank, waiting for Master Shifu.

He walked a little to fill the annoying boredom. It was hot and Chronos was tired of waiting.

He stared at the river carelessly, and when he felt the gathering heat he finally told himself, _'eh, why not,_' and jumped to the water.

The feeling wasn't as bad as before, it was even rather refreshing. The black tiger jumped in and out a few times. Even though the whole experience was odd, he _liked_ it.

After a few minutes he heard slow clapping. "Congratulations, you passed." Shifu said as he came out of his hiding place. "You just _love_ to torture me, don't you?"

Shifu chuckled, "it's a master's thing."

Chronos got out of the river, and shook the water quickly; his fur becoming puffy and messy as he did, making him look like a fluff ball.

"Master," he said while running his hands on his fur, straightening it up, "Can you teach me how to swim?"

**(A\N) thanks for taking the time for reading, and again, thanks for holding on through my slow updates (you know, school, building a computer, my sensei is making me work my butt off, homework, tests, nothing big.)**

**In Israel we use meters as distant unit, and I have no idea how many feet is one meter. So- I used meter.**

**The part of Chronos looking like a fluff ball- think of Simba from 'the lion king' in the song 'Hakuna Mattata' when they got out of the water and he shook all the water off him and his fur went 'Puff'.**

**And put some attention to the jokes - I'v read my chapter about five times over and over adding them.**

**And again - check out my songfic "pretty woman"- if you liked Tigress X Chronos you should like this!**

**Thanks again for all my readers - YOU GUYS ARE PURELY AWESOME!**


	9. Chapter eight: a new friend

***getting glares from everyone* please don't kill me!  
>*still getting glares*<br>please?  
>*no change*<br>ahh...a new chapter! **  
><strong>*Cheers*<strong>

**yeah, took a while, but hey! it's here! i will never abandon you guys! *hugs***

**let's get to business by sayin';**

**i don't own KFP! i'm off to cry and being emo...**

**i don't own Chronos's name and original looks!**

**but... I OWN EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT HIM AND I OWN THE STORY! WOHOO!**

**yeah... got carried away a little.**

**Shout outs:**

**Spade - Omega 7 : thanks for the advice! Chronos already opened up, he just didn't know if he could trust them. ****jeez mate, you make him sound like Tigress!  
>btw, check out this guy's story '<em>the last farewell ride<em>' he's AWESOME! and also a source of inspiration for me.**

** Rogesald : well, i put a lot of effort with the jokes in here, enjoy!**

**FFcrazy15: Chronos: BIG mistake pal. *jumps out of the water easily***

**StupidSexyFlanders : thanks! can't wait for an update for you _heart of iron_ story! seriously, check this out, his GOOD!**

**and as always, thanks for my sis for beta!  
><strong>

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><p><span>Chapter <span>eight- a new friend, a new villain.

It was another night in the hot season, but strangely everyone in the jade palace slept just fine.

That it, except for Chronos.

He twisted in his sling, his body sweaty. _Doesn't this place have a breeze maker or something?_

He kept switching sides. Back, stomach, right, left, nothing worked. _Gah, I can't take it anymore._ Suddenly, he smiled. He finally had an idea. He got off of the slinger and walked to the door, but just when he was about to step out…

"Chronos?" he heard Tigress. He sighed.

"Where are you going?" she didn't sound drowsy at all.

"Do you ever sleep?" Chronos asked.

"I asked you a question." She narrowed her eyes.

"So did I."

"No, I don't sleep." She said sarcastically. It was obvious that the way Chronos squirmed didn't let her fall asleep.

She sighed. Even if he _did_ understand he's supposed to be threatened by her behavior, there was still no point. He wasn't Po. "Now you, where are you going?" her tone was still strict.

"Nowhere." He said a little too fast, slightly embarrassed. _Very believable. _He thought sarcastically_ Way to go, imbecile._

Of course, Tigress could easily see it's not exactly 'nowhere'.

She didn't usually did that, but something convinced her. She decided to let go of her hardcoreness for a while.

"Can I join?" she asked, her tone changed dramatically from a threat to a convince attempt.

Chronos gave it a moment before smiling mysteriously.

"Actually… yeah."

They both walked for a while. Tigress tried to ask where they were going but Chronos didn't answer, he simply smiled.

Suddenly Chronos leapt forth and disappeared in the dark.

It took Tigress a moment before she realized she was standing on the bank of a giant river. she startled.

Chronos popped his head out of the water, scaring Tigress for the second time.

His fur dropped on his head because of the weight of the water, making him bend his ears to the sides**. Even so, the smile on his face kept him from looking sad. He liked the feeling of the water. "Well, you coming?"

Tigress stared at the black tiger, taken aback. "I'll take that as a 'no'." he said sarcastically and his head disappeared under the water.

Tigress stood there, confused over what she just saw, when suddenly two black arms appeared from the water, grabbing Tigress into the river without a warning.

Tigress raised her head above the water, gasping for air and started quivering and splashing water to every direction.

"What are you-!" she was cut off by water that filled her mouth. Chronos grabbed her hand and steadied her until she was able to stand.

"The river isn't that deep," he said, clearly amused. Tigress gazed upon the river, embarrassed and irritated. He was right, it wasn't very deep, the water only reached her waist. But she still wasn't a big fan of water.

"Since when do you know how to swim?" she looked at him uncomfortably while he circled her, swimming on his back idly.

"Not long ago, actually." He said as he stopped behind Tigress and splashed her back.

"Hey!" she yelled, "Actually, it's not that bad..."

"See? I to-" splash! Tigress used the distraction and splashed the black feline in his face.

After a while of them laughing and splashing each other Chronos said "Two days ago Shifu put me through the second fear test- water." Once he finished he 'earned' another splash straight to the face, and Tigress giggled.

He shook his head, spreading heavy drops everywhere. "It was **really** hard. But when I got used to it, it was actually pretty fun." He smirked and splashed back. "Can you teach me too?" asked Tigress when she saw he was winning their little competition, because of the small fact that he could swim.

Chronos nodded. He pointed to a shallower part of the water, telling Tigress to sit over there. "There." He grabbed her legs "All you have to do is move your legs like this." He started moving her legs in swimming motions. "And also with your hands." He did the same with her hands. "Now, all you have to do is do both of the motions, when your hands are in front of you, and the legs are straightened backwards."

As he finished he got another splash to the face, and the competition was now much harder…

After a long time of swimming, laughing and plashing they both got out of the water and sat on the river's bank.

Tigress looked at her wet fur bitterly. Chronos couldn't help but smile, it was exactly the same reaction he had when Shifu made him jump into the water. He took a few steps away, stood on all four and shook off the water.

"Try it, it's not that hard." He called her.

Tigress smiled a cunning smile. She stood right beside Chronos and shook the water of her, making him wet again. The two continued this way until the water dried off by itself, evaporating in the heat, and went back to the palace.

**...**

It was breakfast. Everyone sat in their spots while Po started making some pancakes. Tigress glanced over to Chronos's empty chair, it brought her down to see it. The others noticed as well, though they didn't give as much attention to it.

She waited for a while in the kitchen after everyone finished. "Tigress?" called viper

"Are you coming?" the snake gestured to the training hall with her tail. Tigress shook her head. "I need some time alone, I'll come later."

Viper shrugged, somehow, and went to the training hall, hiding her smile. She knew the real reason.

Tigress waited a while longer, but Chronos still didn't show up, so she gave up and went to the hall. That's when she found him.

"Why are you coming only after everyone is gone?" she asked immediately.

Chronos didn't say anything, he just bent his ears and said some unclear words, avoiding meeting her eyes. But the answer was clear. He went to the kitchen followed by the striped feline's worried gaze.

He got into the kitchen and started making something for himself when he heard footsteps and into the kitchen stepped a certain panda, rumbling something about cookies. He tensed all over.

"Huh?" Po looked up and saw the black tiger, and decided it was time to put an end to it.

"Look," he said strict but not harshly. "I don't wanna hurt you. I know you got something against me, and you know what? It's cool with me. But I only want you to know you have no reason to be afraid of me." He grabbed his belly and dropped it, allowing it to jiggle. "See? Just a harmless chubby teddy bear." He tried to joke, but Chronos remained tense, not letting his gaze off the panda. Po sighed, "I tried" he mumbled and faced the wall, his head locked on the top shelf.

"Oh," the panda turned back to Chronos, "and don't tell about this to anyone." He jumped which made Chronos flinch instinctively, and struck his stance, but he lowered his guard immediately and tilted his head, wondering. The panda wasn't headed to Chronos; he climbed up to a high shelf in the kitchen's corner and opened a jar of cookies, and started stuffing them into his mouth. "Ahh… want one?" Po asked with his mouth full. Chronos shook his head from the thoughts and caught the cookie before it fell to the floor. "Um, thanks."

The two just stood there, Po stuffing his mouth and Chronos eating the cookie slowly, enjoying the first cookie in his life. "Wow, this thing's good.." he murmured.

"Told'ja!" Po said, still with his mouth full.

"Never thought… wait, are these the famous cookies you guys bet on all the time?"

Chronos finished his cookie.

"Yeah, after all…" the panda mumbled the rest of it with his mouth full and swallowed "You mean you never had one of those?" Po gasped.

"Um, yes?" Chronos answered unsurely, not understanding the panda's shock.

Po finished stuffing himself and jumped to the floor. This time Chronos wasn't alarmed.

He studied the panda's movements for all this time, and after all this time seeing Po with the five, Chronos started to think that the panda actually was innocent. He still remembered the vision of course, but right now the panda didn't seem threatening. He actually seemed… friendly. That calmed Chronos, but he still kept his guard.

"Wanna.. Uh… go train?" Po asked, slightly uncertain.

Chronos studied his features, and decided to lower his guard. "Yeah… why not." He said. He felt so strange to find that the person that hunted his dreams is so friendly.

The two trained the entire morning. To Chronos's surprise Po was actually a good sport, and a really fun guy.

After they ate a much needed lunch, Po planned to go to the valley to visit his dad.

Chronos had never gone into the valley. There was that one time Tigress carried him to the palace, but he didn't really looked around then. Now was his chance.

"Po?" Chronos asked when the panda was already at the stairs.

The panda turned to face the black feline. "Yeah?"

Chronos looked around, searching for the right words.

"Is it okay with you if, uh, I'll go with you?" he finally managed to say. Po smiled widely. He patted Chronos's shoulder friendly.

"I'll be glad to."

The two went down the jade palace when Po started panting heavily. Chronos looked at him in wonder.

"Ahh… Po?"

"…?" answered Po breathlessly.

"You okay?"

Po tried to answer, but the words just didn't come out of his mouth. Finally he managed to say "…stairs.."

Chronos smiled in amusement. Looks like Po isn't just a frightening warrior, but also a pretty clumsy panda. The tiger found it hilarious and not scary at all. He wasn't like what Chronos thought he would be at all.

…

They were outside of the restaurant when an elder goose welcomed them.

"Po!" called Mr. Ping with his high- pitched voice and ran over to hug the panda.

"Hey dad," said Po, returning the embrace.

The last words made Chronos to look at Po with wonder, but after a moment he figured it by himself. He sighed, it reminded him of his own father.

"Dad, this is Chronos," Po gestured with his hand towards the black tiger.

Mr. Ping shook Chronos's hand, the tiny fragile wing disappearing inside his big black paw. "One of the furious five?" the goose asked with a warm smile.

"Ahh… you can say that, I'm new." Chronos answered.

When they entered the restaurant everyone stood up in the honor of the dragon warrior, and respectful greetings were heard from every direction.

"Dragon warrior…" an elder bunny bowed in respect.

"Peace and love, Dragon warrior!" called a young enthusiastic pig.

Po waved at them, smiling and nodding. He always liked to keep in good touch with his fans. Chronos on the other hand, felt his loneliness tenfold times worse, because all he got was curious wondering looks. One bunny quickly looked away when he noticed Chronos looking at him. For a moment Chronos was thankful that they didn't knew who he is or what he did. The anonymity is better for now. And also…

_Dragon warrior?_ He wandered _is there anything else I don't know? And_ _what in the world is a Dragon warrior?_

Chronos entered the kitchen, and looked curiously around, causing Po to smile. When his wondering gaze stopped over a bowl of noodles, Po exclaimed, "Don't tell me you don't know what noodles are!" and started cutting vegetables.

Chronos smiled. "I actually _do_ know, though I didn't really have a chance to see it in real life..." he answered. Oogway taught him a lot about the world beyond the mountain, but most of it was only in theory.

"If you make noodles so often, then how come I never saw you making any?" asked Chronos.

Po thought about it for a moment. "There was a fire in the fields about three months ago, burning down all of the wheat, just before the incident with the battalion.

So, no wheat, no flour, no noodles. Of course the emperor took action and made a delivery of it to here, but you know… all of those hills around us, pretty hard to reach us if you are not a traveler." He smiled as he served another order to a happy customer.

"Well, you know what noodles are, start learning how to make 'em!"

He showed Chronos how to slice the vegetables (apparently it's easier then smashing iron-woods), and quickly Chronos got the whole cooking business.

The day passed on with Chronos learning how to make Mr. Ping's famous noodles, and on the way learned how to cooperate with Po. The orders were made quickly and the customers were happy.

In the evening Chronos finally had a taste of the noodles himself.

"Wow, this is good!" he claimed as he finished another bowl.

"Here, try the secret ingredient soup!" Po slid a bowl to Chronos.

He took his chopsticks and was about to eat, but he stopped, and sniffed the bowl.

Twice.

Thrice.

And frowned.

"Is something wrong?" asked Po, mildly concerned.

"What's the difference?" Chronos asked, alternatively pointing on his soup, and on the regular soup.

Po and Mr. Ping exchanged guilty looks.

When they finished dinner, Chronos got up and bowed to Po and his dad.

"Thank you, dinner was delightful." He said and headed towards the door.

Po and his dad exchanged looks, once more, and just before Chronos opened the door the elder goose asked, "Would you like to sleep over?"

"Really?" Chronos ears perked up in joy. Po smiled, "Yeah, you can sleep in my room."

The two new friends headed upstairs to Po's room. He showed Chronos his bed and laid down on his own. When they both were in their beds Chronos eyes rested upon the furious five's action figures that were on the windowsill.

"Ahh, Po?" Chronos pointed at them, "what are these?"

Po smiled in embarrassment. "These… are… toys… no, no, actually, these… Ahh… statues! Yes! Mini - statues for collectors." Po exhaled in relief, finally finding a believable answer.

Chronos already figured by the panda's behavior they were 'toys', and not, whatever it was the second thing. But luckily for Po, he didn't know what's a toy. And now he wondered why Po was so embarrassed. Silent prevailed in the room.

After a few minutes of silence Chronos spoke. "So what is a dragon warrior?"

Po gasped disbelief. "Is there anything you know _except_ the art of kung-fu?" he asked, half shocked, half amused.

"Uh… well, you got me." Chronos admitted his ignorance. Well, it can happen when you live in a cave for your entire life.

Po started telling Chronos about all of the tales, about the birth of Kung-Fu, and about the five.

He was an enthusiastic story teller, and he knew well how to make the listeners to be excited as well with his descriptions (and he, you could say, a _little_ over did it).

He told him how Kung- Fu was created, about the great masters and mostly about Oogway. He told him about every one of the five, and about their path to the sacred art of awesomeness*.

He told him about Tai Lung, the fierce snow leopard, and how he grew to be the enemy of the valley, but the rest of the story he didn't manage to say. After a long day of making noodles and other orders non-stop, the two fell asleep without even noticing that the story was cut off, and drifted off to a peaceful and dreamful sleep.

Especially for Po.

* * *

><p><strong>* I swear, it's his words, not mine.<strong>

**** Ever saw a wet cat? He _does_ bend his ears to the sides- and it's ADORABLE.**

**well, this is it!**

**by the way, i upload one - shots here and there, check it out! or just add me to your author alert! that is, if you refresh every day just to see if something's new is up.**

**yeah, i know, took a while. but hey! i already got another chap, and i will be posting it within a week! 'cause i'm going for a trip and i thought it will be  
><strong>


	10. Chapter nine: a new villain

**well, here it is, Chapter nine! (Tadaaa!)  
><strong>

**I know, it had been three weeks and not one,_ please dont kill me!_**

**I DON'T OWN KFP (which stands for kung fu pan... oh, you already knew that? heh, silly me...) THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG DAY...**

**CHRONOS'S NAME AND CONCEPTUAL LOOKS BELONGS TO SEGA!**

**Chronos's non- conceptual looks, story, and personallity belongs to ME! MUAHAHAHA! too much energy drinks...**

**let's get started, shall we?**

**btw, I uploaded a full- sized picture of Chronos (which was made by my sister and me) **

**link in my profile!  
><strong>

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><p><span>Chapter<span> nine- A new villain.

It was a beautiful day on the valley of peace, and down the palace stairs ran a very stressed looking tigress.

_If Shifu says it's important, it's important._ The feline thought to herself as she jumped on a rooftop and from there to the ground, sprinting through the villagers towards the dragon warrior noodles & tofu shop._ Nice to see that Chronos finally made up with Po._

"Hello, Tigress. How can I help you?" the elder goose asked her friendly, raising his eyebrows. He wasn't used to seeing one of the furious five in his restaurant.

"Good morning Mr. Ping," She quickly bowed "Is Po home?" her face clearly showing it was urgent.

Mr. Ping pointed his feathered hand towards Po's room and before he could blink Tigress blurted out a hurried "Thank you" and ran up the stairs.

She opened the door, waking Chronos as she entered, but Po remained asleep.

"Chronos?" She faked a surprised tone, "What are you doing here?"

The black feline smiled and was about to answer but he was cut off.

"WATATAI!" Po yelled as he quickly stood up, striking his fighting stance.

Tigress pinched her nose bridge and exhaled, and Chronos couldn't help but snicker. He wasn't yet used to the panda's habits.

"Tigress? What's going on?" Po dropped his stance.

She responded immediately. "Shifu is calling everyone! I don't know why, but he asked me to call you."

With no further delay, the trio ran up the jade palace's stairs.

Po collapsed in the middle.

Chronos responded immediately and lifted the panda on his shoulders like he was a bag of flour, and continued racing up the stairs.

After an 'exhausting' sprint, Chronos dropped Po on the ground, receiving a weird grunt as a sign of gratitude. Chronos himself didn't show any of the tiniest signs of exhaustion.

Shifu waited for them at the top of the stairs, and like the rest of the five he was slightly shocked to see Chronos with Po. He ordered Chronos to help Po up.

"Yes… master…whew!... what is it…huh… this time?" Po tried desperately to hide his panting.

Chronos smiled amused and patted Po's back, causing everyone's puzzlement, except for Tigress', to grow farther.

Master Shifu shook his surprised look and cleared his throat. "I received several rumors about a gang of wolves who wish to rob the museum in the city Hé Shëng. And as you know, there are a lot of deadly weapons that are still in working condition in there."

Chronos shrugged. He had no idea about the importance of the weapons. All he understood was 'bottom line; stop the wolves'.

"They will reach their destination within a few days. I need you set out immediately!" the red panda finished his speech.

Everyone was headed towards the stairs. "Wait!" Shifu stopped them.

Everyone turned to look at Shifu.

"Master?" Tigress asked.

"This mission requires only two people."

Chronos and Po looked at each other and back to Shifu. A cunning smile formed his features.

"You guessed right, Chronos and Po. If you are willing, the two of you will go."

The two bowed with fist to an open palm, and turned to the stairs.

Everyone was now in complete shock, except Tigress who already seen the friendship between the two.

Shifu was surprised too, but very quick his expression changed to a smile, as he turned to the five.

"Don't you have training to do?"

The five hurried back into the palace. But Tigress, who stood in front of the training hall's door, was still contemplating.

"Master?" she turned to face the red panda.

"What is it, Tigress?" Shifu replied coldly. Tigress exhaled quietly, she hated when Shifu acted like that. But she didn't really have any choice, she had to accept things the way they are. Shifu will never change.

"If you had planned to send only Chronos and the dragon warrior, why did you call the rest of us?" she questioned.

"Simple. If they were to refuse, I would have to send the five. Though it actually surprised me that I didn't have to…" he trailed off with the last sentence.

"Like I said before, don't you have some training to do?" he told his student, as strict as before.

"Yes, master." Tigress smashed her fist against her open paw, and turned to the training hall reluctantly.

She closed the door, but stayed there, as waiting for something. Just when she realized she had nothing to wait for and started walking towards the inside of training hall she could swear she could hear Shifu talking to himself.

"…so he passed the third test."

**...**

The two stopped for the night. Po made a bonfire, and Chronos, being the more experienced one with outdoor survival, roasted a few vegetables he found nearby on the fire.

"So… where do you come from?" asked Po after munching to satisfaction and stretching back. Looking to the stars, he made himself comfortable on the slinger Chronos improvised for him.

"Well," Chronos started "I was raised by a tortoise, on a distant mountain. He taught me fighting, survival, _everything._ So I happen to know other stuff than kung-fu, like you saw at your dad's that I _do_ know what noodles are."

That was not enough for the naturally - curious panda. "Sorry for being picky, but… I think we made some progress over here. Can I ask you something that you might slightly a little bit-"

"-get to the point-"

"Make you feel uncomfortable?" he tried to be gentle. It was quite a challenge for the panda that usually shot everything that went through his mind.

Chronos nodded slowly. If he knew what a brother is like, then Po was probably the closest thing he could ever find. He didn't want to hide anything from him.

"Do you remember anything from before the mountain? Parents? Family? anything?"

Chronos took a deep, slow breath, and exhaled. He tried to put away the emotions, but only for a moment - something he wasn't used to do. Not because he's not suppose to feel anything, but because he don't want to almost cry every single time he thinks about it.

He started speaking coldly; "I remember two images; the first is my parents being slashed in front of my very eyes." It made Po tremble.

"And the second," Chronos tone warmed, but just slightly, "a brother, twin brother, being taken away from me right afterwards." Chronos stared into the flames, the light flickering on his yellow eyes made him look serious.

Po was utterly shocked. He never expected anything so severe.

"Wow, that's… wow. You know, my story isn't the happiest either…"

Chronos was glad he wasn't the subject anymore and encouraged Po to continue.

The two talked for a long while, and Po told the black feline about his tragic past which he revealed lately.

On the other hand, the two laughed a lot when Po told him about his first days in the jade palace, not to mention the way he was chosen as the dragon warrior.

Who would believe that the mighty dragon warrior started at such a low point!

Po also told Chronos about the story he didn't managed to tell him last night, about Tai Lung, and the story about Lord Shen. And how he managed to find inner peace.

"Inner peace, the one thing I will never have." Chronos bent his ears, saddened.

"Huh? Why?" Po wondered.

Chronos told him the entire story, and about the visions and nightmares that were chasing him for three years.

Po's expression went serious. "Wow, no wonder you hated me so much."

Chronos smiled, "Yeah, but apparently you're not that bad." He poked Po playfully in his stomach, making his whole body jiggle.

Po then got serious again. "In your vision, you said I killed you. How?"

Chronos thought it over for a moment. "You flexed your pinky." He burst out in laughter when he realized how stupid it sounds, making Po laugh as well.

"It's called the Wuxi finger hold." He said when the laughter faded. "I actually used that once."

Chronos looked at him curiously, waiting for him to finish, and the panda continued.  
>"In my fight against Tai Lung. He was already exhausted. He told me 'You're just a big… Fat.. Panda!' and then I caught his finger-" he stood up from the slinger and made a stance, resembling the hold. "- and I told him: I'm not just a big fat panda, I'm THE big fat panda! SKADOOSH! And flexed my finger. I saw a really strong light and felt a strong gust, and he was no longer there."<p>

Chronos laughed. "Skadoosh?" he snickered. Only Po can say such a stupid thing before sending someone straight to hell.

But his smile faded shortly.

"What? Not workin' for ya'?" Po flexed his pinky a few times more.

"Don't, -don't do that." the black tiger stared at Po's hand.

"Wha? Why?"

"It scares the life out of me, literally. Just don't." Chronos kept looking at Po's hand as if it's going to lash out on him and chew him alive.

"Okay, sorry." Po quickly put his hands behind his back like a child hiding his mess.

Chronos laughed. "Thanks."

Contemplating, the black feline lifted his gaze to the sky, and he smile faded at once. Po was surprised to see a tear sliding down his black cheek.

Po looked up as well. All he saw was pink peach petals passing with the wind, and a weak scent of peach was in the air. But that didn't explain his friend's sudden change of emotion.

He lowered his gaze back to the feline. "…Chronos?"

Chronos kept staring to the sky.

"It's the anniversary…" he sniffed.

"Huh?"

"Three years since I saw him…" he whispered, his voice was shaking.

Po kept looking at him, still not getting it.

"…Dad…"

**...**

The duo reached the museum of Su- Ling- Ba, the raid has already begun. Luckily the city was already evacuated.

The two leaped towards the bandits, and landed in front of the museum's entrance, taking down the two wolves that picked the lock.

Chronos barred his fangs and unsheathed his claws. "I hate wolves."

"Get ready to feel the THUNDA!" Po yelled enthusiastically, and lashed out on the wolves.

'_Thunda'? Seriously?_ Chronos thought as he charged himself.

They started driving them back, planting destruction among the canines, but quickly found themselves fighting back to back.

"It seems we can't beat them fast enough!" Po shouted while throwing a wolf at his comrade.

"Got any ideas?" Chronos answered while blocking three kicks from three different opponents at once, and punching another one sending him to air, and kicking him to the three attackers.

"Yeah, one," The panda yelled and stepped on a wolf's foot, making him wine in pain.

"Grab my arms-" he was cut off, back-kicking a wolf from behind.

"-And throw me as high as you can!"

Chronos delivered a side-kick to the right, blowing the air out of another wolf. "WHAT?" he yelled, and delivered another kick to the left.

"I said that-"

"I heard you, and I repeat, WHAT?" Chronos did a back-flip, sending down a kick to a wolf's head.

"Just do it!" Po responded, and kicked an especially mean-looking wolf that caught him in that moment.

Chronos shrugged (between the blows) and grabbed Po's arm.

He swung him around, making several other wolfs to fall unconscious, and finally threw him to the air.

Po was sent flying in the air, and stopped, starting to descend with his head down and his arms aimed down as well, clenched into fists.

Chronos stood on his hands and made a split, kicking another two wolfs in the head, and jumped back on his legs, looking up.

The black feline's eyes went wide when he realized what the panda is up to.

Too late for them, the wolves did too.

"WOHA!" Chronos yelled and leaped back with a flip a split second before Po hit the ground with massive force, sending wolves, dust, and earth everywhere.

"Yeah! Woohoo!" Po yelled towards the pile of unconscious and groaning wolves as Chronos helped him up.

"Taste the defeat!" he yelled, tripped and collapsed back to the ground. "Oh.." Po moaned. "You're supposed to catch me!" he groaned in pain as Chronos helped him back up, again.

"Uh, sorry? How am I supposed to predict you'll collapse a second after I helped you up?" Chronos defended himself.

"Hm, good point."

"Warn me next time you're almost making a pancake out of me." Chronos smiled and the two punched each other playfully.

Suddenly, the two turned their heads as they heard a feminine, yet tough voice coming from the dust. "Do I have to do everything myself?"

Chronos and Po exchanged looks.

"Um, I don't fight girls…" said Po.

Chronos raised an eyebrow. "Then what in the world are you doing with Tigress?"

Po shrugged and blurred "mmm" with an 'I don't know' tone.

From the dust cloud emerged a female wolf. She was young, about Tigress's height. She wore a blue vest with moon patterns on it, black charcoal pants which covered her legs, and some kind of bandages at the end of her legs. Her fur was grey on her back and white on her chest, face, and stomach. She was also white from armpit to paw, while the shoulders to the back of the paws were grey. Her fur was clean and bright, it was clear she cared about her looks.

Before the two managed to realize who or what, she lunged at the two warriors with a flying kick.

Chronos was the first to response. He leaped and landed in front of Po, shoved the canines' leg so she herself was still flying towards him and with a quick punch the wolf found herself flying back.

She regained composure immediately and landed on her feet without much effort. She shook her head in surprise.

Chronos with a swift Tai Chi-like motion stroke his stance.

"You're no mach for me, puppy!" Chronos shouted towards the wolf, but she didn't lose her composure.

"We'll see about that, kitty!" she yelled and leaped again, this time aiming specifically to the black tiger.

Chronos took the hit in his torso and stroke again into the wolf's stomach with both of his wrists attached together, knocking the wind out of her limbs and sending her flying back again.

She fell on the ground and rolled uncontrollably.

When the momentum ended and she finally stopped she managed to rise up slowly, panting.

She took something out of her vest and threw it towards her feet with force. A cloud of smoke appeared, hiding her figure completely.

"We shall meet again." they could hear the wolf's voice coming from inside the cloud. It sounded more like a promise than a threat.

When the cloud dispersed a moment later, she wasn't there anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>Master Shewolf belongs to kaptainitty from deviantart! thank you so much for letting me use her! you're awesome!<br>**

**well, chapter nine. what'cha all think? finally getting some plot here, are we? and some action as you all pointed out... 'bout freaking time, lol. **

**also, check out my new one-shot 'adopted' it's ADORABLE! sorry, I like cats.**

**R&R**


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